Place-based Playbook for the Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (IMCP)

This playbook offers any community a three-step approach to building a holistic community-development strategy and describes existing Federal grant and technical assistance resources that communities can use to put that strategy into practice:

Backbone: Build an organizational backbone with the insight needed to strengthen manufacturing and fully support the work that follows.

Assessment: Conduct a community self-assessment of the local industrial ecosystem (i.e., the whole range of physical, capital, and human resource components needed for manufacturing activities) to identify current strengths and deficiencies.

Tune-up: Develop a comprehensive and transformational tune-up strategy that can be sustained over time.​

As your community prepares to attract new manufacturing investment, as well as improve support for existing manufacturing businesses and workers, please keep in mind that manufacturing is only one component of a larger business ecosystem. It is important to build a competitive strategy that supports all aspects of this broader business ecosystem.

​About the Place-Based Playbook

The Place-based Playbook was designed to support communities competing for the Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (IMCP) designation. IMCP aims to accelerate the resurgence of manufacturing and create a competitive climate for communities to attract manufacturing jobs and investment. The IMCP encourages communities to devise comprehensive economic development strategies that strengthen their competitive edge in attracting global manufacturers and their supply chains. Other place-based practitioners have found the Playbook useful for improving their own journey toward more effective and sustainable economic development.